costa rockin'...

I left my house at 4am.
It's now 11:15 in San Jose, Costa Rica. And needless to say, I look like shit.
My family cannot complete a task without bitching at each other, myself included. I've learned to prefer it when the bitching is directed at others, like the Park 'N Fly lady this morning or our evil flight attendant slamming weak-ass bloody mary's onto our trays.
After a 3 hour layover in Atlanta, where Alex and I snuck away to drink with the 500 servicemen and women on their way back to Iraq, we noticed that people were constantly approaching these kids on their one hour of peace, as they innocently sipped beer.
"Thank y'all so much for what y'all are doing."
Over and over.
Hey, that's awesome as far as I'm concerned. But after awhile, it started to get on my nerves.
"Now promise me y'all'll be careful. I don't want y'all getting hurt."
Oh my god.
Do you have any idea where there people work?
They're going to Iraq, lady. Iraq.
I threw a cute Army boy a wink and grabbed my bags. Frankly, I'd have felt like an asshole telling some 19 year old who gets shot at for a living to "take care" when my ass was upgraded on my way to tropical paradise.
Our in-flight movie was one I hadn't seen. Little Miss Sunshine, the very movie I'd hoped to catch on the plane. As it ended, the entire first class cabin errupted into thunderous laughter and applause.
"There's a lot of solidarity up here." My brother noticed.
Maybe it's the chick passing the wine.
The plane suddenly slammed down, landing like a rock on asphault. We breezed through customs, got our bags and found a man holding a huge printed sign near the taxis.
"Spotswood."
Sweet. I popped on my iPod and stared out the window, warm air and Nine Inch Nails blaring in my face. We're now here at the hotel, finding the Ryken contingent drinking in the bar. So tired am I, I'm not even joining my compatriots for a drink at some dive a few blocks away. I'm taking my bottled water and my book to bed.
After all, I'm reading "For Laci: A mother's story of love, loss and hope." Alex asked me how it was going. "Kinda like a Lifetime Afternoon Movie..."